Phase 2 of Transitway begins

Published 11:28 pm, Monday, January 20, 2014

A demolition crew from New England Yankee Construction from Milford, work to take down a building at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Elm Street in Stamford on Monday to make way for a wider intersection.

A demolition crew from New England Yankee Construction from Milford, work to take down a building at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Elm Street in Stamford on Monday to make way for a wider intersection.

George Nassra, the owner of Blu Tile, Stone and Kitchen on Myrtle Avenue said he hoped the upcoming disruption from work to complete the Stamford Urban Transitway's eastern stretch will be completed efficiently and with efforts to retain access to area businesses.

Nassra pointed to recently installed telephone poles within his parking lot where the future curb of the four-lane commuter road will be, space that was claimed by the city by eminent domain.

"If they are going to tear up the road, it means disruption," Nassra said. "It all depends on how they handle the road and how efficiently they do everything."

On Monday, the city's contractor on the project, Middletown-based AI Engineering, began demolishing 402 Elm St., the first of several buildings the city will knock down this month to commence the second $65 million phase of the road and widen Myrtle Avenue between Elm and East Main streets, Director of Operations Ernie Orgera said.